Interview: Stephen Colbert Discusses His Faith, the Pope, Islam, and More

In an interview with Father Thomas Rosica of Salt and Light Television, Stephen Colbert discussed his faith, the Pope, his career, and other current issues.

Rosica begins the interview by asking Colbert if he was interviewing the Colbert from his show The Colbert Report or the real “born again” Colbert.

Colbert responds that this is an ambitious question, but said he is answering the interview questions fully and openly as himself.

The Daily Beast reports that the interview is both hysterically funny and at times deeply serious as Colbert talks about his faith and what it means to him.

Rosica and Colbert banter back and forth about different aspects of the Catholic faith and Church and Colbert pokes fun, invoking his favorite saint “Arugula,” but Rosica asserts that ““If we love something we can make fun of it. We need to see the divine sense of humor in some things.”

In the 45-minute interview, Colbert discusses his views on performance. Ultimately, he says, his goal when performing is to connect with the audience and relieve some of their loneliness.

"That’s got to be the goal, that connection has got to be the goal, and the making somebody laugh has got to be the goal. You can’t think that your satire is going to change things,” Colbert stated.

Rosica also questioned Colbert about the Charlie Hebdo murders. Colbert responded that ultimately, the murders made him look at his own faith.

“If this were the 14th Century, Christians could have done this . . . I do not perceive that action, is indicative of Islam… I’m not trying to make a moral equivalency between the Christianity of the Middle Ages and these people, who are doing this horror right now, but every religion has been so defensive of its beliefs that it has actually abandoned its beliefs at times,” Colbert stated.

Colbert also praised Pope Francis for the joy he seems to have and to extend to others.

Colbert acknowledged that the Pope is a flawed man, just like everyone else and just like the church, but he said the Pope seems to recognize that although flawed and sometimes criticized as a fool, he is a “fool for Christ,” which Colbert says is what it means to love.